A London-born native of New York currently living between NYC and The Netherlands, brings the release of Stories From The Dust, the seventh studio album this month. She’s Lucy Woodward, who has been awarded two BMI Music Awards. Additionally, Woodward has been critically acclaimed for her albums over the past two decades, including 2007’s Hot & Bothered (Barnes & Noble) and 2010’s Hooked! (Verve), 2016’s Til They Bang On The Door (Ground/UP/Universal), 2019’s Music! Music! Music! and 2020’s I’m A Stranger Here with Charlie Hunter. Also set this year is a live recording by Woodward’s Big Band via GroundUP Music under the ensemble name Lucy Woodward & The Rocketeers.
A successful solo career aside, Woodward has recorded and/or toured with the likes of Snarky Puppy, Rod Stewart, Pink Martini, Celine Dion, Barbra Streisand, Chaka Khan, Joe Cocker, and Carole King.
The earlier-referenced Stories From The Dust was crafted by co-producer/artist David Garza (Fiona Apple) and recorded at Sonic Ranch Studios on the border between Mexico and Texas. The album features bassist extraordinaire Tim Lefebvre (David Bowie, Tedeschi Trucks), drummer Amy Wood (Fiona Apple), Grammy-winning singer Gaby Moreno, Holly Palmer (Gnarls Barkley, David Bowie), Stevvi Alexander (The Roots, Barbra Streisand, Fleetwood Mac) and Larry Goldings (James Taylor, John Mayer).
Before Woodward’s upcoming tour, she spoke with New York Lifestyles Magazine about her past, present, and future as a New Yorker and world-touring recording artist.
You grew up in New York, among other places. You have performed at Madison Square Garden and some of the city’s largest venues. Where were some of your first gigs as a live performer?
The place where everyone I know cut their teeth coming up in New York City was Bleecker Street—particularly The Bitter End and Elbow Room. There was a massive community, and we all went to each other’s gigs to support and sit in on each other’s sets. It was the perfect place to learn your skills and learn about being in a band wedged between five different bands. It was amazing. And hard. It was the era when you were mailing postcards to your friends to remind them about your gig. Then, you start getting experienced and confident enough to graduate from Mercury Lounge, Arlene Grocery, Le Poisson Rouge, or Joe’s Pub. I can still smell the spirit in those venues.
What are your favorite venues for seeing live music in New York?
Nublu stands the test of time for the vibe. You always feel right at home when you walk in. Zinc Bar and Joe’s Pub, though vastly different from each other, give me the same feeling. You also feel safe that you’ll always see someone incredible.
When you have an off day in New York, where are some of the places you would like to go to these days?
I always text many musician friends to see where they are that night. Recently, I texted my dear friend Conrad Korsch—one of New York’s finest bass players—to see what he was up to. His reply was, “I’m playing at Django at the Roxy Hotel tonight, come!” So off I went! The same goes for my friend Jane Monheit, who does a residency at Birdland a couple of times a year. These are all last-minute plans.
But honestly, I love wandering the streets of New York City because, at any moment, you can walk by a venue or even a tiny bar, hear music coming out through the front door as someone is leaving, and feel, “I need to be in there right now.” You really can’t let those moments pass you by. Don’t plan. Just wander and see what pulls you in.
Your latest album came out this month. What do the next 6 to 12 months look like for you?
I am so excited to play this album, Stories From The Dust since it’s been in the works for some time. I’ll be touring the U.S. and Europe and hitting some fantastic cities. I also have another album coming out in July through GroundUP Music called Lucy Woodward & The Rocketeers. It’s wickedly beautiful, with wild grooves and a sort of neo-Big Band sound.
My duo project, The Guests with piano extraordinaire Henry Hey (David Bowie, Rudder), celebrates the power of the song stripped back and acoustic as we perform songs by Hoagy Carmichael, Rod Stewart, Bowie, or one of the originals. We’ll also be touring between the U.S. and Europe. It’s super different from my 18-piece brass band! I am excited to share all these projects, which are massively different from each other.
You have made music on an elevated level for decades, beyond performing with some of music’s top names for decades. What is there still left for Lucy Woodward to accomplish?
I plan to study at a conservatory in Spain for a month and learn more about percussion and Flamenco music. I took some Flamenco singing classes during the pandemic, but I need the next level of intense learning. I don’t know where that experience will lead me, but I think I need to be disciplined somewhere and do it. And just three days ago, I was thinking about making a record of hymns.
I have no idea what’s in store for me! But I hope it’s different from anything I’ve done before. I think all my albums have been very different from one to the next. I don’t try to do that; it just is what it is.
Finally, what does New York have that you can’t find elsewhere?
That deep New York chutzpah is passed on traditionally from generation to generation. And bagels. It’s not happening anywhere else, no matter how hard they try.
For more information on Lucy Woodward, visit lucywoodward.com